My short series is fully up now at Love Joy Feminism. It is in three parts. This link will take you to the main site where I’m currently on top. You can also poke around and explore what blogger Libby Anne writes herself. As an atheist/former fundamentalist Christian, she often points out dangerous themes which invade certain Christian teachings. Her writing is thorough and thought provoking. I’ve found her extensive knowledge and unique perspective helpful in navigating and considering the Christianities I encounter on my journey.
Guesting at Love Joy Feminism
Today I am featured as guest blogger at Love Joy Feminism. I have written about the Elsie Dinsmore books, a children’s book series with religious overtones. Go check it out:
Pope Disappointment
I’m rather disappointed with the new Pope, Francis. The initial stories seemed encouraging; he did a foot-washing ceremony for women in prison one of whom was Muslim. That’s great seeing as it was always done traditionally with for Christian men. Then there was the fact that he paid his hotel bill after selection as Pope, which is something the Vatican would usually take care of. He was also careful in several instances to call himself Bishop of Rome rather than Pope. The significance in this is humility and also possibly an attempt to appeal to the Eastern Orthodox Church which (along with many Protestants) takes issue with the Papacy and the fact that it has grown so far beyond a simple bishopric.
At the time the new Pope was introduced I was happy with these details but also wondered if these tantalizing bits of progress weren’t possibly just for show while all eyes were on him. I felt I was probably being too cynical and decided to wait and see. Since then I’ve read that the Vatican has restated it’s chiding of that nuns group- you remember? A group of American nuns were called to visit the Vatican then ambushed with accusations that they were too focused on poverty and hunger and ignored such important issues as gay marriage and combatting abortion. This was all during the leadership of the last pope. Well apparently Pope Francis agrees.
Then recently he went ahead and excommunicated a priest in Brazil who spoke regarding homosexuality and open marriage and the possibility that these might be ok. Excommunication is something of a harsh punishment and seems overblown in this case. And it’s striking that other sins priests have committed (child abuse?) do not have excommunication as punishment and in fact are usually “punished” with a look the other way.
Of course I dunno why I’m surprised. The Catholic Church has never been about conversation between members and leadership. The hierarchy is just too tight. I guess I was hoping Pope Francis was ready to relax a bit and listen. These incidents suggest perhaps not. Whatever, I guess I’ll keep waiting to see what happens.
Punch out hunger’s lights!
My grandad got into fights. I suppose there’s a little of that in me because sometimes I’d like to think problems just need a good punch in the face to solve them. Unfortunately I can’t think of a single problem that could really be solved that way. Lucky for me (and all of us) there’s some other ways to do things. Yesterday at the church I chose to revisit, the entire congregation was invited to write letters to reps in congress asking them to find room in the budget for programs that reduce hunger. We actually all did this together after the service was over. Then someone collected all the letters and mailed them in a group. I wrote one. And I visited this website that has info and a petition you can sign:
In the middle of the second paragraph there is text you can click to sign the petition.
In a nation as advanced as ours, hunger is a stupid problem to still have. We should fix it, so we can move on and get to fixing some other problems.
Random Saints- the stylites
I borrowed a book out of the library about saints. I looked up the name Daniel first to see if any interesting saints share his name. There was one; St Daniel the Stylite. Sadly, stylite does NOT mean fashion obsessed. It means he lived on a pole. As in, he was up there all the time. For years.
Now, Daniel wasn’t the first guy to do this or even the first saint to do it. So here’s what I learned about the phenom.:
Saints (and other wackys I suppose) sometimes decided to leave the world and escape by climbing a pillar and living atop it. Usually only a small platform topped the pillar and they would literally stay up there for a matter of years. The less resilient ones would build a small hut up there as protection from the elements, but most just had the platform on which they stood for hours at a time. And everything I’ve read suggests they really never came down. I’m not entirely sure how they slept up there, maybe they trained to meditate without moving, or were insomniacs slowly going crazy, I don’t know. I even looked up modern pole sitting to see if that would give any insight. Apparently one modern pole-sitter lodged his thumbs into holes in the pole and took naps that way, using the pressure on his thumbs to right himself as he swayed. I think this sounds like a great way to break you thumbs, but what do I know?
Also disconcerting to think about is the call of nature. Ok you’re on a pole, what do you do? I read that boys would send up baskets of food for the stylites, so you know they ate. My best guess here for afterwards is they raised and lowered a chamber pot. One modern pole sitter used a long tube to the ground. I can’t imagine any way for them to bathe up there and I’m sorry to say they had no Purell, so stylites must have been absolutely filthy somewhat grungy.
You’d think people would keep away from these weirdos, but it was just the opposite. Folks would come far and wide to ask the Saint’s advice, blessing, and prayer. Sometimes the Saint would perform a miracle. Often he would preach from atop his pillar and sometimes he would dictate letters. Why did people flock to see these guys anyway? Curiosity? Piety? Honestly I can’t think of a single example of something even remotely similar in today’s world. Make your own conclusions; I find this one strange beyond description.
Besides Daniel, here are some other stylites:
Saint Simeon the Elder
Saint Simeon the Younger
Saint Alypius
Saint Luke the Younger
Lent = deprivation and boredom?
I gotta be honest here, Lent is my least favorite season. The music is boring, moods are gloomy, and every Friday you have to think a little harder about dinner. I ask myself what is up with Lent? It is forty days long (minus the Sundays) and being raised Catholic it’s traditional to ask each other, “what are you giving up?” Once as a child I gave up gum. I can’t remember why I settled on gum in particular. Forty days is a pretty long time and I asked my mom if it might be ok just to have one piece if gum. She said, “no you gave that up for Lent.” I try to keep my promises, so I waited. Another thing we did as a family was avoid meat on Lenten Fridays. Since no one in my family knew how to eat veggie, we always had fish sticks. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a fish stick, but it’s basically a mozzarella stick filled with tasteless fish in the place of tasty cheese. They are disgusting and awful.
That was my primary experience of Lent as a child. Now that I’m an adult I have a slightly better idea of what Lent is for, but only slightly. The number forty corresponds to the forty days Jesus fasted and was tempted in the wilderness by Satan before he started preaching. Don’t ask me why this ends in Jesus dying and rising at Easter, jumping the three year gap. I guess the early church wanted to roll all the sadness into one season? By the end of Lent we aren’t fasting in the desert anymore, we are mourning Jesus. This mirrors the disciples who mourn their leader, not understanding He’s coming right back.
So a forty day sad-fest leads to a brief even sadder-fest then we get to celebrate- for one day. Lent seems hardly worth it. Maybe it’s because I sometimes have depression or maybe forty days feels too long for anything, but either way I can’t seem to see much use for Lent. I’ve heard the things it’s supposed to be about. We give up things in life and eat simpler meals to bring us closer to God. How exactly does this happen? I don’t know because I’ve never understood deprivation helping us get to God. Deprivation just makes me feel deprived. Fasting makes me feel hungry. Neither of these things helps me focus on God in any special way. But fasting is common in lots of religious traditions, so it must work for some people, right?
If Lent was created by the early church I can sort of understand the suffering to obtain purity mentality. The early church was big into martyrdom and torment; they thought it made one more holy. It was kinda their way of dealing with the persecution they faced. As a riff off that I get it. But there are lots of Christians today who don’t have to deal with that level of suffering, nor do we generally consider it good to suffer. So I suggest we repurpose the Lenten deprivation to make it more useful. Pick a fast (refrain from something), make it short, and then do it. Ask yourself the following questions:
1) what did I not have?
2) could I give this up again?
3) taking the money and time I have saved, what can I do to devote it towards helping others?
4) how did it feel going without the thing I gave up and what can I do to help those for whom this type of deprivation is not optional?
Instead of experiencing suffering for suffering’s sake, this type of fast could instead be a way for us all to be reminded that we should be working towards alleviating suffering in the world. My plan is to pick a fast and try this. I’ll let you know if it leads anywhere interesting.
Musings on Empathy
This morning I am having some good talks with Dan and wanted to share a bit of it. We were discussing empathy and it’s role in Christianity. Empathy means understanding the feelings of another. One school of thought says that Christianity is the author of empathy. Dan and I call bullstuff on this idea. Empathy is the reason humans form societies, which makes it older than Christianity by a lot. If none of us had any regard for the feelings of others we would be solitary creatures and would not want to associate with others. It would be too hard putting up with another person if you didn’t care anything about them.
Christianity definitely places some emphasis on empathy. Jesus came and said things; many different things that are interpreted many ways, but a lot of his key points seem empathy driven. He said to give more to others than what’s necessary. He said the poor should be considered and not ignored. He helped heal the sick and he helped heal those suffering mentally from guilt and sadness. Empathy for those even unlike you- as I see it, this was his big takeaway point.
Of course another aspect that gets pulled in is that of consequences. Many Christians seem to believe we cannot be good without consequences for doing bad. I’ve been wondering if the Christian concept of hell, divine retributions, and punishments are necessary if we have empathy. I know atheists who are capable of being nice to others. That doesn’t come from them being worried about hell, so where else could it come from besides an empathy that is within them? I have heard the argument that there isn’t a need for god/the divine punishment concept because of humans being capable of figuring out on their own what is right. This is grounded in human beings having empathy. But not all people have a working version of empathy. Those without it are either called sociopaths or psychopaths. I’ve been wondering if the rigidity of rules vs. punishment sometimes seen in Christianity is a good thing for those who lack empathy. What other reason could they have for behaving well? Or would the same lack of concern for others translate to a lack of concern with God?
Some church songs
Tired, bored, still sick. No deep thoughts today. Instead, here is a list of songs we sang regularly at my childhood church:
Earthen Vessels
Though the mountains may fall
The lights of the City
Blest be the Lord
If God is for us
One bread one body
Be not afraid
Sing to the Mountains
Praise the Lord, my soul
What you hear in the dark
We also had a fast version of the Amen and Lamb of God, both of which I particularly loved. If these songs were any the same for you, you can probably hear them in your head now. What songs were a staple in your church?
Some church songs
Tired, bored, still sick. No deep thoughts today. Instead, here is a list of songs we sang regularly at my childhood church:
Earthen Vessels
Though the mountains may fall
The lights of the City
Blest be the Lord
If God is for us
One bread one body
Be not afraid
Sing to the Mountains
Praise the Lord, my soul
What you hear in the dark
We also had a fast version of the Amen and Lamb of God, both of which I particularly loved. If these songs were any the same for you, you can probably hear them in your head now. What songs were a staple in your church?
Webster shooting
It hasn’t been all that long since the elementary school shooting in Connecticut. But just this morning another shooting has occurred basically in my husband’s hometown. One of our friends is in the hospital.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/12/24/firefighters-shot-rochester.html
Please pray if you think it will help. And please push for better gun control laws if you know how. Good intents and good action are both needed. I think Jesus would approve of fewer guns, no guns, no knives, no swords. The guy was pretty nonviolent as a rule. It’s been making me crazy that Christians agitate for guns as if they forgot Jesus entirely. He told Peter to put away his sword the night they were coming to kill him. That’s like the epitome of nonviolent. People kill people but guns sure are doing a great job helping them. I wish I had some great plan or catchy rallying cry to fix this. I don’t. I’m incredibly sad for our extended friend-circle and those touched by this. The only thing more I can think to write is this: How many more times do hearts have to break like this?